Double agent: Creative fired after Omnicom agencies bust his hustle
Dr Mumbo heard a tale coming out of the cafes and beach huts of Cannes of an ambitious creative who managed to get himself off the books of two sister agencies in one fell swoop.
The story goes like this: a creative employed by Sancho BBDO was reportedly lending his services to Omnicom sister agency DDB Colombia for the best part of a year, hiding under the guise of work-from-home conditions.
Creative vs. two creative agencies: who will outwit each other?
¿Por qué no los dos?
I think this happens more than anyone realises. I know a creative lucky enough to run several retainers concurrently where they get paid for more hours and days than there are in the week….
I hear you.
However in my experience, creatives are paid less because agencies are now almost all profit and margin driven. There was a time when CFOs were paid less than the CCO.
Perhaps that’s why you’re seeing a rapid rise in small consultancies working with big brands. Clients want top talent, but don’t want to pay the agency mark-up. Good creatives want to be remunerated fairly and don’t need an agency of junior suits to do good work. Add a good producer to the mix and it’s win-win.
Imagine what would happen if creatives were remunerated correctly? I can’t speak for Columbia, but in Australia creative pay has gone backwards.
Super interesting… A number of creatives do ‘moonlighting’ in our industry and in Australia, right now.
Some create their own businesses on the side, but many freelance for anyone and everyone if they can get it. Just saying…
Sounds like the terms of employment contracts may have to be more clear about what circumstances make freelance side hustles Ok, or not?
Pay has gone backwards because clients keep paying less. Nowadays, an agency’s reward for doing a good job is to be offered a new contract that pays less than the last, or one that pays the same but requires you to provide more services. Get used to it because I have it on hood authority Procurement departments aren’t sitting around trying to figure out ways to pay agencies more!
Seems as though this is a super-talented creative, capable of doing two jobs at once. Why fire them if you find out they’re doing double-time?
Makes no sense. Just hire them and load them up 🙂
If this happened in the US, BBDO and DDB would have a lawsuit on their hands. Non-poach agreements are illegal and a breach of anti-trust laws. Not sure about Australia…
Seems like the only damage done was to the agencies’ egos. By all accounts, each agency was happy with the work they were receiving. It’s ironic that agencies expect loyalty when they provide none.